PlayStation has revealed the PlayStation Portal, the company's "remote play dedicated console." Launched to rival Valve's SteamDeck, the PlayStation Portal is a portable console with an 8-inch screen and wireless half-controllers. It works by linking to your existing PlayStation 5 library.
"Since launching PS5, we’ve been amazed to see how players around the world have embraced the generational leaps we made in the gaming experience, such as the heightened feeling of immersion delivered by the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers in the DualSense wireless controller. Our PlayStation community continues to give us a reason to challenge ourselves to bring new innovations to the market for all players to enjoy. That’s why today, we are especially pleased to share new updates about our upcoming hardware products," the company said in a statement.
PlayStation Looks To Enter Portable Games Market
Now you may be thinking - didn't PlayStation have a console many years ago? Yes, they did. It was totally not confusingly called the PlayStation Portable or PSP. That console launched in 2004 and was supported by PlayStation until they closed the PSP store in 2016. This new console, also referred to as the PSP, is more in line with the Remote Play consoles produced by Valve and Nintendo. According to the press statement, the console will retail for $199.99. However, has PlayStation waited too long to enter this market?
Industry experts believe that the SteamDeck will sell over 3 million units by the end of 2023. Meanwhile, Nintendo has sold over 129 million Switches as of the end of June 2023. The Switch is an all-in-one product, with its own dedicated shop and games. Additionally, the SteamDeck only relies on you having a free Steam account. From there, you are able to play any games that you have previously purchased. In contrast, the (new) PSP exclusively relies on you having working WiFi and also a PlayStation 5. The low price point may be appealing. However, it appears to be a very exclusive product that requires a high barrier to entry (i.e. having a PlayStation 5). PlayStation did not set a release date, simply saying that it would be launched later this year.
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